Rep. Waxman Statement on President Obama’s Gun Control Proposals

Today, Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman issued the following statement on President Obama’s series of proposals to prevent and reduce gun violence:

"Today, the President removed the handcuffs that pro-gun legislators had placed on the Centers for Disease Control. He directed CDC to research the causes of gun violence and interventions that protect children. This is a crucial step forward for science and children’s safety. I am also pleased that President Obama’s plan includes specific measures regarding gun safety technologies and mental health training and treatment services. I wholeheartedly endorse each of these initiatives, as well as the other elements of the President’s executive orders and his proposals on mandatory background checks, a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, closing the straw purchaser loophole, and school safety. Taken together, these steps present a blueprint for action to tackle one of the nation’s most pressing public health problems. Congress must now do its part to turn this blueprint into a full-blown assault on gun violence – to help keep our kids and, indeed, all the American people as safe as we possibly can.”

Rep. Waxman sent letters last week to Vice President Biden and Rep. Mike Thompson, Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, calling on them to take action on specific public health and safety initiatives to curb gun violence.